Shoe construction



Oct. 31, 1944. T. R. ATKINS SHOE CONSTRUCTION Filed May 19. 1942Patented Oct. 31, 1944 OFFICE SHOE CONSTRUCTION Thomas R. Atkins,Saugus, Mass. Application May 19, 1942, Serial No. 443,557

' 6 Claims.

This invention relates more particularly to an improved upperconstruction for pumps and other shoes in which it is desired to providea yielding or elastic action of the upper about the shoe opening andespecially about the throat of the vamp and the instep of the wearersShoes have heretofore been made in which the leather portion of theupper has been slashed therethrough to make it expansible and a liningof rubber or rubber containing fabric has been associated therewith tosecure elastic action. A slashed upper however, tends to becomepermanently distorted in wear and rubber containing fabric is no longeravailable for shoe manufacture. Accordingly, one object of thisinvention is to provide a shoe having an .elastic action at its openingwithout either thus slashing the leather portion of the upper oremploying rubber in its construction. I

With these ends in view an important feature of my invention consists inan upper scored on its grain surface only and presenting an intact andunbroken flesh surface. I have discovered that by scoring the leatherportion of the upper even when it consists of such normally inelasticmaterial as patent leather, the leather may be rendered expansible orstretchy as a whole in the desired direction and that within practicallimits it may be stretched repeatedly without permanent distortion oropening of the scored lines therein.

Another important feature of the invention consists in the employment ofa ynthetic resin in sheet form, for example Vinylite, as an elasticreinforcing element in the upper- I have discovered that such material,while never before employed for its elastic qualities, when enclosedbetween plies of stretchy upper material will impart elasticity to thewhole structure com paring very favorably with that heretofore onlyderived by using a rubber fabric.

In its preferred form the upper of my invention comprises a leatherportion transversely scored on its outer surface only and folded acrossthe scored marks so as to present opposed inner faces which are intactand enclose a doubled strip or sheet of Vinylite, the said elementsbeing maintained in the desired assembled relation by one or morezig-zag lines of stitching which permit longitudinal stretch andcontraction of the assembled upper longitudinally of the shoe openingtherein.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood andappreciated from the following description of a preferred embodimentthereof selected for purposes of illustration and. shown in theaccompanying drawing in which,

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a shoe employing my invention in itsconstruction;

Fig. 2 illustrate a piece of leather scored at one face in accordancewith the invention,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged inner view of the throat of the shoe illustratedin Fig. 1, portions being shown in raised position to illustrate theconstruction,

Fig. 4 is a like outer view thereof, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of a shoe employing a goring constructed inaccordance with my invention,

Fig. '7 i a fragmentary view of this goring.

The shoe or pump illustrated in Fig. 1 cmploys a throat portion l0constructed to yield in conformity to the foot of the wearer. In shoesheretofore made this throat portion has em-.

bodied an inner strip of rubber-containing fabric about which theleather of the throat is folded U-shaped, and the leather of the throathas been slashed therethrough to permit expansion. My invention notonly' eliminate such slashing whichweakens the throat and permitspermanent distortion thereof but furthermore provides the necessaryelasticity without requiring the use of rubber which is now unavailablefor this purpose.

Leather is substantially inelastic and I have discovered that suchinelasticity in flexible leather adaptable to use for the throat Inresides largely on one face of the leather, such as the grain surface ora coated surface like in patent leather, and that otherwise the leatherhas sufficient elasticity to serve the desired function. In accordancewith my invention, therefore, I score the portion of the leather piecel2. which isto form the throat I0, along a plurality of relativelyadjacent and substantially parallel lines l4, the scoring cuts extendingthrough the substantially inelastic face 16 but substantially short'ofthe opposite face It. The scored portion secured together by zig-zagstitching 28 which permits of longitudinal expansion.

I have furthermore discovered that a synthetic and homogeneous sheetproduct known as Vinylite has sufficient elasticity to serve as theelastic medium 20 and preferably therefore I incorporate such materialinto my improved construction. This material is formed into film-likesheets so flexible, tough and of limited elasticity that it serves thedesired purpose as satisfactorily as the more expensive and unavailablerubber heretofore used. The supply of Vinylite is furthermore withoutrestriction, and its use merely requires the severing of the necessarystrips from sheets thereof, folding them to U-form and stitching thelegs together at 28.

It should be understood that Vinylite is'only one of a class of knownsynthetic resinproducts which can be used satisfactorily in the novelconstruction of my invention. Ethyl cellulose, polymers of vinyl acetateor conjoint polymers of vinyl acetate and vinyl chloride, n butylmethacrylate, polystyrene and various analogous or derivative productsmay be successfully employed since they also have the essentialcharacteristics required.

While in the drawing I have illustrated the leather piece I2 as scoredon and through its outer face, the invention is also quite applicable toconstruction in which the inner face is scored. One example of suchconstruction resides in suede shoes in which the flesh side of theleather is on the outside. In such case the grain side of "the leatherpiece is scored as illustrated in Fig. 2, and the piece is foldedU-shaped with the scored surface inwardly whereby leaving the outersurface intact.

The shoe 30 shown in Fig. 6 employs a resilient goring 32 on each sideof the throat thereof and connecting the vamp 34 and quarter 36. Thisgoring, illustrated more particularly in Fig. '7, is constructed inaccordance with my invention. The grain face of a leather strip 38 isskived along its edge portions at 31 and the intermediate portion isscored transversely alonga plurality of parallel lines 40 in the mannerabove described, and the leather strip is folded with the grain faceinside about a strip 42 of Vinylite or lik composition having elasticproperties. Adhesive is applied along the edges of the strip 38 at 43and the combined strips are preferably stitched together along the zigzag line 44. The skiving and scorings render the leather stripstretchable longitudinall and this strip combined with the strip 42provides a very serviceable elastic goring of the nature and for thepurpose described. While the zig zag stitching is desirable and permitsthe goring to expand and contract longitudinally, it will be understoodthat any suitable holding means can be employed in lieu of thestitching.

It will now be apparent that I have produced anew and valuablecontribution in the art of shoe construction wherein the construction isrendered stronger, more attractive, and more capable of retaining itsoriginal shape, and furthermore, the requirement for rubber has beeneliminated by the employement of another available product which hasbeen found sufficiently elastic to serve the desired function and whichis also less expensive than the rubber fabric heretofore employed.

Having thus disclosed my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a shoe upper, a leather piece having limited elasticity except onone face which is substantially inelastic, the piece being scoredthereacross along a plurality of relatively adjacent and substantiallyparallel lines and through said inelastic face but short of the oppositeface whereby rendering the .piece expansiblein a direction transverselyof said lines and leaving said opposite face intact.

2. In a sho upper, a leather piece folded U- shaped onto itself, acooperating piece of elastic material folded U-shaped onto itself andinserted within the leather piece fold, and means holding the two piecesin assembled relation, the leather piece having limited elasticityexcept at one face which is substantially inelastic and being scoredabout and transversely of the U-fold along a plurality of relativelyadjacent and substantially parallel lines and through said face butshort of the opposite face, whereby rendering the piece expansible alongthe fold and leaving said opposite face intact.

3. The shoe upper defined in claim 2 in which the outer face of theleather piece is substantially inelastic and is scored along said linesthrough the outer face but short of the inner face.

4. A leather shoe upper having its top edge scored transversely thereofand through its grain surface only and leaving the opposite surface intact, the upper being folded U-shaped trans,- versely of'the scorings topresent opposed inner faces, and a sheet of elastic material enclosedbetween said inner faces and atv said topv edge and providing in theupper a folded elastic edge about the opening thereof,

5. A leather shoe upper having its top edge scored transversely in itsouter surface only and folded transversely of the scored marks therebypresenting opposed surfaces which are inwardly intact and outwardlyscored, and a sheet of elastic material doubled and enclosed between theintact faces and at said edge and providing in the upper a'foldedelastic edge about the opening thereof.

6. An article of manufacture comprising a leather strip having limitedelasticity except on one face which is substantially inelastic, saidstrip being scored transversely thereacross along a plurality ofrelatively adjacent and substantially parallel lines and through theinelastic face but short of the opposite face whereby rendering thestrip expansible longitudinally and leaving said opposite face intact,and a strip of material having elastic properties, the leather stripbeing folded about and enclosing the elastic strip with the score linesextending transversely of the strips.

" THOMAS R; ATKINS.

